28th Jan 2005, 11:37

1986 Toyota Corolla hatch 1.3 from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

The coolest car I will ever own

Faults:

I needed a new alternator around 2 weeks after I got it for my 16th birthday.

General Comments:

I love this car. It runs well, and despite its age, it still goes like a little rocket. I am learning to drive on it, and I couldn't have been given a better car. The handling is a little bit dodgy in the rain.

1986 Toyota Corolla SR5 4ac 1.6 from North America

Summary:

This rail is a blast!

Faults:

The few things that have gone wrong with this car are very typical of them because of their age: alternator, heater blower motor, water pump, shocks and struts, valve cover gasket, carb adjustment, timing belt, rotor cap and wires, just mainly wear items, and of course the a/c doesn't work! That's about it, though...

General Comments:

I had one of these when they were new, and when I saw this for sale, I just went and paid the guy! It had been sitting under a tree for years, but even yet it has never left me stranded. I drive it about 30 miles to work every day, with trips across the state whenever I want to go. Sometimes it seems kinda slow, but just not as slow as everyone else! It handles great, gets a lot of comments (I repainted it mr2 signal yellow), and is very economical. Maybe other people have more luxurious vehicles, but there's no way they have more fun driving than I do. If I see another one, I'm getting it too so I have a spare, just in case!

8th Aug 2004, 13:57

I am a proud owner of a 1987 Toyota Corolla Sport Coupe SR-5 with rear wheel drive. It has about 124,000 miles on it now. I purchased it brand new in April of 1987. I feel this car is special due to the fact that 1987 was the last year it was offered with rear wheel drive...

The five speed manual transmission is still in pretty good shape and has never been serviced. I'm not sure what needs to be done to it. The manual clutch has been changed twice.

The only thing that I've done to it in the form of maintenance is routine such as, oil changes, plug changes, rotor and cap, air filter, brakes and of course, tires. The clutch master started to leak recently and I changed that. Relatively it is a dream to work on if you know what you are doing and I'm not a master mechanic, but I do know my way around under the hood. The one thing that drove me crazy for a while was when the relay for the pop-up headlights started acting up. The lights kept going up and down. But by trial and error I soon fixed them, and note there are three possible relays in the circuit and each one costs about $90+.

I plan to keep it forever and will soon have it repainted it's original color, silver dollar metallic.